Every day was Halloween, pretty much, for Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the entertainer who routinely appeared onstage from inside a coffin, draped in rubber snakes, brandishing a flaming skull.

Hawkins had heavyweight-champ vocal prowess, and he sang like he was possessed by the spirit, yelping, gurgling, squealing and appearing to speak in tongues on crazed, theatrical masterpieces of weirdness like “Little Demon,” “Feast of the Mau Maus,” and “Alligator Wine,” among others.

Halloween is technically over for another year. But Voodoo begins today, tacking three more days of haunted celebration and music on to the festivities – so what could be a more appropriate midday music break than Hawkins’ 1956 signature tune?